Examples of DISPARATE

<disparate notions among adults and adolescents about when middle age begins>

First during the nineteen-seventies, but with increasing momentum during the eighties, a loose community of physics researchers had begun to postulate that the disparate small particles that we learned about in high-school science class—electrons, for instance—were actually the varied vibrations of tiny open and closed looped strings. —Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 21 July 2008

The American border with Mexico is among the most economically disparate intersections in the world, but the cities on either side of the port looked almost identical—a spread of humble brick and cinder-block homes dotting a blanket of brown hills. —Cecilia Balli, Harper's, October 2006

I made the French lemon cream tart that Greenspan credits to Hermé and got disparate reactions. An American friend loved its creaminess and felt it had a comfortingly familiar texture; a British friend … said he missed the traditional sharp, gel-like custard. —Tamasin Day-Lewis, Saveur, November 2006

Like these imagined cities, identical twins are identical only in their blueprints. By the time they are born, they are already disparate in countless neurological and physiological ways that mostly we cannot see. —Frank J. Sulloway, New York Review, 30 Nov. 2006

The plan, as near as anybody outside Yahoo can make out, is to stitch all those disparate organizations into one huge Frankenstein's monster of a search engine that will strike terror into the hearts of all who behold it. —Lev Grossman, Time, 22 Dec. 2003

Synonym Discussion of DISPARATE

different, diverse, divergent, disparate, various mean unlike in kind or character. different may imply little more than separateness but it may also imply contrast or contrariness <different foods>. diverse implies both distinctness and marked contrast <such diverse interests as dancing and football>. divergent implies movement away from each other and unlikelihood of ultimate meeting or reconciliation <went on to pursue divergent careers>. disparate emphasizes incongruity or incompatibility <disparate notions of freedom>. various stresses the number of sorts or kinds <tried various methods>.

Numerous commentators have condemned different than in spite of its use since the 17th century by many of the best-known names in English literature. It is nevertheless standard and is even recommended in many handbooks when followed by a clause, because insisting on from in such instances often produces clumsy or wordy formulations. Different from, the generally safe choice, is more common especially when it is followed by a noun or pronoun.

Medical Dictionary

disparate

adjectivedis·pa·rate \dis-ˈpar-ət, ˈdis-p(ə-)rət\

Medical Definition of DISPARATE

: indicating or stimulating dissimilar points on the retina of each eye